RC Residents React To Winter Weather

School and businesses are closed and many events are cancelled because of the winter storm that's pounding parts of South Dakota.

On Thursday, it was warm enough in parts of the Black Hills to go outside without a coat on. But with a couple inches of snow already on the ground in Rapid City and wind chills below zero, that obviously was not the case Friday.

"We've been very fortunate. The whole winter it seemed a lot more like summer, so even a couple days ago I had the door open because it got too hot in the salon," local salon owner Dennis Halterman said.

"It's part of living in South Dakota, just wait a day and the weather will change," snow plow operator John Muko said.

The flakes began flying around 8:00 a.m. Friday. It didn't take long for snow to paint the area white.

"We haven't had a good sized winter storm for a while, so this is kind of like a refresher course for a lot of people in the community," Pennington County Emergency Management's Alexa White said.

Schools were closed across much of the West, including Rapid City.

"I think that was a good move to close the schools because that's less travel on the roads because the roads are really slick right now," Muko said.

Some area businesses also decided not to open or to close up shop early on account of the weather.

"It's very much a safety issue. We want our customers to be safe and not to come in as well as our employees to be able to get home and not find themselves stuck in a snow bank," Halterman said.

But in spite of the hassles and headaches caused by the storm, many people appreciate seeing the white stuff.

"You know, I just really wish that we will be measuring it in feet instead of inches but I'm crazy. I just love the snow!" Muko said.

"I say let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" Halterman said.

The snow is expected to last throughout the night and could drop more than eight-inches in parts of the Black Hills. Make sure to stay tuned to KELOLAND News for more weather updates.